Cody Paladino may be playing even better golf now than he was going into last year’s Connecticut Open championship.

That’s good news for the defending champion and bad news for everyone else at the 82nd Connecticut Open begins Monday at Woodway Country Club in Darien.

“It’s going to be wonderful to defend. It’s going to be wonderful if I do defend,” Paladino said. “Getting there knowing one year ago I had a breakthrough week, I still need to treat it as just another week. If I spend all my time focusing on what I did a year ago, I will lose track of what I’m really supposed to be doing out there.”

Since winning the Open at the Patterson Club last July, Paladino, now 27, spent a lot of time playing in Asia. After that extended period, Paladino came home and suffered a pinched nerve in his right hip.

“I was out a couple of weeks. It’s the worst kind of injury you could have (swinging a golf club),” Paladino said.

Paladino felt his game “hit a plateau” after winning the Open. He felt he needed a change. George Connor, his short-game coach, also became his swing coach.

It wasn’t easy parting ways with Chuck Elrick, Paladino’s swing coach for 20 years and still a family friend, but the golfer felt it necessary to make the switch.

“It had nothing to do with Chuck Elrick. I was at a point in my life I had to make a decision to provide a little spark, something fresh,” Paladino said.

Paladino has spent the spring and summer traveling around the Northeast playing events. This weekend, he played the Bangor Open in Maine, where he tied for 13th place.

But the result that may have turned things around for Paladino was the Lecom Health Challenge, a Web.Com Tour event held earlier this month in Findley Lake, New York. It was the first Web.Com Tour event Paladino played in and he had to qualify to get there.

Not only did Paladino qualify, he also made the cut and finished in a tie for 63rd place. He played with three different former PGA Tour pros during the tournament.

“They all missed cut and had all made cut on the PGA Tour the previous week (Barracuda Championship),” Paladino said. “It was more about realizing if they are great, then I am going to be great. A lot of guys have been out there for years and I’m just getting started.”

Paladino will tee off the 10th hole at Woodway CC at 9 a.m. Monday. His group includes former two-time Open champion Nick Cook from Shelton and Adam Rainaud, who qualified to play in next week’s Travelers Championship.

“I need to maintain focus,” Paladino said. “If I do that and think well around the golf course and have a good week navigating the greens, I don’t see any reason why I don’t defend. I’m hitting the ball tremendously well.”

Another notable group includes the first group off at 8 a.m. on Monday: Former PGA Tour player Ken Green, current Whitney Farms GC pro William Street, the former assistant pro at New Haven CC, and Wethersfield CC head pro Ron Dellostritto.

Another former two-time winner, Jeff Curl, goes off the 10th tee at 8:30 a.m. Zach Zaback, who won the Connecticut Amateur for the second time and finished tied for second at the New England Amateur last week, is turning pro this week and tees off the 10th at 9:20.

Cody’s older brother Brent goes off No. 10 at 9:30. Former champ Steve Sokol follows at 10. Three-time winner Frank Bensel goes off the first hole at 1. Four-time champ and current Central Connecticut State University men’s golf coach Kyle Gallo goes off at 2:30 p.m.

Travelers Championship qualifiers

The Travelers Championship pre-qualifier will be held Wednesday at Ellington Ridge CC. The low 40 players and ties move onto the final stage of qualifying Aug. 1, also at Ellington Ridge CC.

Among those attempting to advance are: Jim Hanlon, the head pro at The Farms CC in Wallingford (6 a.m.); Geoff Vartelas, who tied for second at the New England Amateur (7:21); Rasmey Kong of West Haven (12:27 p.m.); Evan Beirne (12:54 p.m.), who tied for 22nd place in the Bangor Open; Zaback (2:42 p.m.) and Cody Paladino (3:27 p.m.).

USGA increases age limit for juniors

The United State Golf Association announced on Wednesday that it was increasing the maximum age for competitors in both the U.S. Girls’ Junior and U.S. Junior Amateur championships from 17 years old to 18.

Other changes being made beginning in 2017 is the lowering of the players’ handicap index, from 18.4 to 9.4 for the Girls Junior and to 4.4 from 6.4 for the Junior Amateur.

The maximum Handicap Index® requirements for both championships will also be lowered, from 18.4 to 9.4 for the Girls’ Junior and from 6.4 to 4.4. Additionally, sectional qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur will be reduced from 36 holes to 18 holes.

“The changes in our junior championships are being made to ensure the strongest fields possible,” said USGA president Diana Murphy in a statement. “We anticipate that raising the maximum age will also increase our entries and participation in junior golf in general, which ties into our strategic mission for championships.”

Joe Morelli can be reached at jmorelli@nhregister.com. Follow Joe on Twitter @nhrJoeMorelli.